Ungrateful Snakes
by Goldilocks 92
Summary: HG/SS HP/DM Hermione is pissed off by Snape's cruel attitude towards her and Draco is confused by his feelings- surely he can't be gay? Together they come up with a mutually beneficial scheme.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione was in a bad mood. In fact, she'd been in a bad mood for weeks. For some reason she had expected things to be different at Hogwarts when she and the rest of her year had returned in order to finish their educations after the end of the war. And yet, everything had stayed the same: Hermione was still seen as the bookworm, plain and dull, only worth talking to when someone needed help with their schoolwork, simply because she didn't feel like going out and getting smashed in Hogsmeade every night. It wasn't that she didn't want to socialise, in fact she enjoyed going for a drink or two now and then, it was simply that getting horrendously drunk and then throwing up everywhere just wasn't on her list of priorities. Especially since she would probably end up being the sober one making sure her pissed friends got home safely.

Other things had remained irritatingly the same as well. The Slytherins and the Gryffindors still hated each other. Hermione had hoped that the old rivalries would have ended, now that Voldemort was gone and both the Slytherins and the Gryffindors had suffered great losses. She had had especially high hopes for Draco Malfoy whose life they had saved on numerous occasions and whom Harry had defended in court. However, he was as a big a dick as ever, prancing about with his Slytherin cronies and sending hateful looks towards the Gryffindors, especially towards Harry.

However, what was really pissing Hermione off that day was Ron who was currently sitting in the corner of the common room licking Lavender's face off, or so it seemed. It wasn't that Hermione was jealous, God no, she never wanted to be in that particular position with Ron ever again! She just hated how quickly he had moved on. Only a week ago had the two of them decided that they were never going to work and that they were better off as friends, and already he was sucking face with the first witch he could find... prick.

However, Ron's antics with Lav Lav wasn't the only problem... Harry had come out of the closet a fortnight ago, and had sat down all of his closest friends and had told them, openly and honestly, that he was gay and that he was scared of coming out, but knew that it would be OK as long as he had his friends' support and understanding. Hermione, of course, had immediately promised that she would be there for him whenever he need her, but Ron, in typical Ron fashion, had exploded, acting as if Harry had betrayed him and had been lying to him the whole time they had been friends, when in actual fact, Harry had only started realising his true sexuality recently.

In desperate need of his best friend's support, Harry had been too shocked to respond to Ron's accusations and had simply walked away. They hadn't spoken since. In the last week, Ron had been studiously ignoring Harry and had been attached to Lavender's lips too often to realise how much he was upsetting Harry. Instead, Harry had been hanging around with Hermione and Dean Thomas, who was also gay but in a committed relationship with a muggle in his home town. They all got on really well, but the atmosphere had been permanently depressing and decidedly dejected in the last few days, and Hermione was sick of it.

What, however, pissed her off the most, wasn't everyone else's perception of her, or Malfoy's attitude, or Ron being a dick or even Harry's sombre mood: her biggest problem was prowling about in the dungeons, a permanent sneer stuck on his face, his robe billowing down the corridor. Severus Snape. Hermione had fucking saved him in the shrieking shack. She didn't want his gratitude. She didn't want his friendship. In fact, she really didn't want anything from him. She had done what she would have done for any human being. But he could at least be civil to her, for fuck's sake!

Yes. She had expected a change when she returned to Hogwarts. Most of all she had expected a change in Severus Snape. He was no longer bound to Voldemort, it was no longer necessary for him to hate Gryffindors. He was an honoured war hero. There was no reason for him still to be such a prick, all of the time! At least not to her. She had saved his life, had defended him in court, describing the ways he had saved their lives over their years in Hogwarts. And yet he was being crueller to her than he had ever been before the war.

Her usual epithet "insufferable know it all" was the way he now usually addressed her in class. Without any provocation. He sneered every time she raised her hand, belittled her every time she answered a question. But the insults weren't confined to her academic prowess and "unbearable" personality any more. No, he'd now started commenting on her appearance. Every lesson there would be a new comment about her hair, every time more disparaging and hurtful than the last. Apparently, now it was so horrendous that no bird would ever willingly lay its egg in it. In fact, why wouldn't she just do the whole world a favour, and shave it off?

Hermione didn't understand. All she had ever done was help the man. Maybe his anger would have been understandable had she been mentioning it all the time, had she been boasting about her actions. However, she hadn't uttered anything of the sort. To anyone. She wasn't even sure if most of the order knew that she had saved Snape. The only person she had told was Harry, and, despite Snape's unbearable attitude towards Hermione in class, Harry had become Snape's greatest admirer and certainly wouldn't have told anyone about Hermione saving him.

It wasn't like Hermione was meekly sitting there, letting herself get insulted. Well, not at first, anyway. She had defended herself at the beginning, had called Snape up on being unfair and even unprofessional. But after the first fortnight of term, Gryffindor were so deep in the negative range of house points, her class mates had eventually persuaded Hermione to give up arguing back and just to sit back and take it. Thinking of Gryffindor. Not that she cared about house points, but she didn't want to lose even more popularity.

But perhaps there was one thing that pissed Hermione off even more than Snape's constant insults. She could hardly even admit it to herself. She didn't want to admit that despite his unpleasant sneer, despite his unending efforts to make her miserable, to belittle her, to make her feel even more unattractive than she already did, she was in love with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione noticed that Malfoy had started acting strangely. He was still glaring at the Gryffindor table and acting like an all round prick, but sometimes Hermione caught him looking at her, as if wanting to say something.

At first she thought she had been imagining it, but then the instances started increasing. A nervous glance at her when they passed in the corridor, a contemplative expression on his face watching her demonstrate in transfiguration... and finally a resigned glare as he got up to talk to her in the library. They were the only ones studying there on a Sunday afternoon.

"Granger." Malfoy said, seemingly unable to go on and glaring at her instead.

"Malfoy. What do you want?" This better be good. Hermione had been half way through a fascinating passage.

"All right all right. No need to be rude!"

"I said, what do you want?"

"Look. I've got a proposition for you." Malfoy looked downright embarrassed. "I've noticed that you and Weasley aren't together anymore and –"

"Since when is that any of your fucking business?" Hermione snarled.

"I'm getting there! I want to help you, all right?"

"How could you possibly help me? And why would you want to anyway?"

"Just shut up for a moment, and let me finish!" Malfoy was beginning to get pissed off. "You're on your own and I'm on my own and I thought, maybe we could pretend to date."

"You what?!"

"Look. I need to look like I'm dating someone, alright? A girl, I mean. My house mates are starting to get suspicious." Now Malfoy was bright red.

"What d'you mean, a girl? Wait, Malfoy, are you gay?"

"Yes. Alright. I am. You're the first person I've told. And it has to stay that way, got it? No one can find out, especially not my house mates. They'll have me for breakfast."

"Alright, I get it. But how can I help you with that? I'm not sure I understand, Malfoy." Hermione was confused. But she could see how difficult it was for Malfoy. "I mean, surely it wouldn't be any easier for you to be seen with me?"

"That's the thing. They know something's going on. They aren't sure what it is and I'm scared someone will work it out. If they realise I'm with you, a Gryffindor, _the_ Gryffindor, they'll think that that's what I was hiding."

"Alright. You want me to be your beard. But I still don't get what's in it for me." Hermione had to admit, she was intrigued. She also couldn't help but let her ideals of house unity flash across her mind... the Slytherin snake and the Gryffindor princess together. That would start breaking down the boundaries if nothing else would!

"Well. Weasley got over you very quickly, didn't he? You could get him back by being with me, the person he hates most."

"You really think I'm that vindictive Malfoy?"

"I know it, Granger. I've seen the way you glare at him. But don't worry, that's not all. I've got something even better."

"And what would that be?"

"I'll defend you, in class, to my Godfather. He's been a real prick to you, and as much as I've been enjoying watching it, it would be nice to bring him down a notch or two by having someone in his own house standing up for you."

"It won't make a difference. But I like the idea. He'll look like a right dick if even his own house aren't supporting him."

"So, are you in then?" Malfoy looked apprehensive. To be honest, either way his life would still be hell. If Granger said no, his house might find out what he was. God forbid if anyone would find out who he was into too. But if she said yes he'd still have a lot of shit to deal with.

"Fine. I'm in. But we have to think of a plan. We can't just suddenly start holding hands and proclaiming it to the world. No one would believe us. We'll have to let them figure it out. Make them think they're smart."

"Sounds good Granger. Who knew your super sized brain could come up with anything other than word for word book quotes?"

"Oh fuck off you prick. We both know you wouldn't be here if it weren't for my super sized brain."

"Whatever. Anyway. How do we start?"

"Tomorrow. Try and throw some longing looks my way."

"Longing looks. pfffft." Malfoy snorted.

"Look it was your idea. If you don't want to do it, it's fine by me!" Hermione snarled.

"Calm down Granger. Jeez! Fine, we'll throw each other longing looks tomorrow. Looking forward to it."

"Good. And now you're going to sit opposite me in the library, and start practicing. Got it?"

"Whatever" Malfoy muttered and got back to work, occasionally glancing up at the Gryffindor wondering how the hell they were going to pull it off.

That night at dinner, however, Malfoy ruined the whole plan in one swift, dramatic sweep. Once again his stupid house mates had started questioning his weird behaviour recently, the way he never joined in with their objectification of the women in their school, the way he often locked himself away from the others in the evening, wanting to be on his own. The way he often seemed flustered after lessons with the Gryffindors... Malfoy couldn't ignore it any longer. He was constantly terrified that the next time he looked at one of his housemates he would find an expression of dawning realisation on one of their faces. If his secret got out it would be the end of life as he knew it.

And so Malfoy decided to take matters into his own hands, to ignore Hermione's plan and just go for it. He stood up from the Slytherin table without so much as another word to his "friends" and marched over to the Gryffindors in the middle of dinner.

The Gryffindors were watching his approach with some confusion. Hermione looked at his determined expression with a mixture of horror and wariness. Harry looked dumb struck, unable to tear his eyes away from the approaching blonde boy.

When Malfoy arrived he grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her up from her seated position. He looked her in the eyes hard and with a barely disguised expression of dread and disgust he forcibly pressed his lips against hers.

"What the fuck?" Hermione heard Ron's voice swearing in shock, but chose to ignore it. Having realised what Malfoy was about to do, Hermione had decided that the only thing she could do was to go along with it. And so, she lifted her arms and curled them around Draco's neck, moving her lips against his.

The kiss was entirely passionless for both of them, but they had put on a good show. After separating, Hermione and Draco looked each other in the eyes, Parvarti would later say that it was clear the two adored each other from that look, clasped their hands together, and walked straight out of the double doors into the corridor beyond. As soon as the doors closed they snatched their hands back and Hermione pushed Draco into the wall.

"What the fuck was that for? I thought we were going to wait? I thought we would make them all work it out for themselves? Didn't you listen to anything I said?"

"I just changed my mind, alright granger? I didn't want to wait, I couldn't take the chance. Anyway, what does it matter? Everyone thinks we're together now. Now all we need to do is convince our friends we're together and play the adoring couple in public. I'll defend you in front of Snape, Ron will be pissed off and my house mates will never find out the truth. So what's the problem?"

"Fine. It's not like we can change it now anyway. I'm going back to the common room, I'll see you tomorrow in class." Hermione huffed and turned to go.

"Bye honey!" Malfoy cooed and turned towards the dungeons with a smirk on his face.

Little did they know about the deafening silence that had reined in the great hall as soon as they had left. The Slytherins seemed to have been muted by the disgust they felt at their own King Snake taking off with the muggle born Gryffindor princess. The Hufflepuffs were confused and the Ravenclaws annoyed because they had never seen it coming. The Gryffindors were shocked. Ron was fuming mad, in fact he was so angry that he was sputtering but no words came out. He just couldn't express such fury with the limited vocabulary he possessed. Lavender and Parvarti were both slightly flushed, already inventing the passionate story of two star struck lovers finding each other despite all the odds, inspired by the all consuming passion they thought they had seen in the kiss.

Only two people in the whole of the great hall had reacted in ways no one would have imagined. Harry Potter sat at the end of the Gryffindor table, next to Hermione's empty seat. He looked absolutely dejected, as if his worst nightmare had just come true, as if his heart had just broken. Of course, that could not have been the case, surely, because he was gay and Hermione was a girl. But that was how he looked in any case.

And on the high table, the point furthest away from the dramatic action that had just come to pass, sat Severus Snape, his face blank, but not as effortlessly so as was usually the case. If anyone had been watching him closely, they would have noticed the fury sparking in his eyes and his right fist clenched so tightly that his fingernails had left marks in his palms that could still be seen hours later.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hermione! What the hell!" Harry shouted as he stormed into Hermione's bedroom. "You, and Draco?! I don't believe it! I don't want to believe it! How could you do this to me?"

Hermione was shocked at Harry's violent onslaught of words. Everyone else had been surprised, some had been angry, most suspected that they had been hallucinating. Ron had called her a traitor before dragging Lav Lav off into a corner in order to angrily attack her lips. Poor girl. But Harry's reaction went beyond shock and beyond anger. He seemed genuinely hurt and upset. Hermione had not expected this from Harry of all people; he supported her idea of breaking down the barriers between the houses, heck, he had defended Draco countless times that term, whenever someone from Gryffindor badmouthed him behind his back. Even when it was especially deserved.

And that's when it dawned on her.

"Harry, do you like Draco?"

"What, no! I mean... no!" Harry spluttered, his face going bright red and his eyes wide.

"You do! Harry you like him, you fancy him! Oh this is brilliant-"

"No, I don't! Of course I don't! How could you even... wait, what did you say?"

"It's brilliant!"

"Hermione, why would you say that? You're with him! Even if I did like him, which I don't, I couldn't have him now. Not only is he straight, but now that he's with my best friend, I can't ever have him!"

"Harry, I know you. It's clear now that you're in love with Draco. In fact, now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense. I can't believe I didn't work it out before! And don't worry about my relationship with him – can you promise to keep a secret?"

"Yes! Sure... whatever, you can tell me!"

"Look, Harry, Draco and I aren't really in a relationship. We're just pretending."

"What why? That makes no sense!" Harry seemed genuinely confused, but his hurt expression was slowly turning into a more hopeful one.

"I'm fed up of seeming undesirable, plain and boring. And I wanted to get back at Ron for moving on so quickly."

"But what about Draco, what's in it for him?"

"Look, promise you won't tell anyone." Harry nodded frantically, desperate to find out if the suspicions in the back of his mind were correct. "Draco, has a secret, and he doesn't want anyone to find out. So he's with me so that everyone thinks that his big secret is his feelings for me, and not that he's... gay."

Harry sat there in shocked silence, trying to absorb the information. The man that he had been in love with for months was gay... that meant that the love which Harry had always felt to be impossible was no longer that. Now it was only improbable. He knew that his chances with Draco were next to nothing, but at least they weren't nothing. Harry stood up, a slightly goofy expression on his face. He just walked out of Hermione's bedroom without even a word of goodbye. His mind and his emotions were caught in an unintelligible whirl which allowed no thought of his surroundings. Only once he was lying in his own bed did Harry start to wonder what the hell he was going to do about the changes in his situation.

Hermione, on the other hand, started to scheme. How was she going to get Harry and Draco together? She had an inkling that Draco might return Harry's feelings, he did look at him an awful lot, even if he was glaring, but it was also clear that Draco was ashamed of any feelings he might have.

However, she did have her own little romance problem to think about. What to do about Snape? He was such an arse to her. In class he was either studiously ignoring her or cruelly belittling her. Draco defending her in class would be a great way of undermining him, but it wouldn't exactly make Snape suddenly fall in love with her... although maybe if Draco could make it clear he found her desirable then Snape may start looking at her differently...

With a sigh Hermione got up from the couch and started getting ready for bed. She needed to forget Snape and move on, find someone else to fall in love with. After the war her opinion of Severus Snape had taken a drastic turn; suddenly his amazing bravery, intelligence and endurance had become clear to her. However it was his tragic love story which had affected her the most. He wasn't like the boys her age, fickle in their affections and only really interested in one thing. When he fell in love, it was for life. He was the most loyal man she had ever known and it was this which attracted her the most. But it was also this which made her so certain that she could never win his affections- his heart had already been taken by another. No matter how unworthy Lily was of his affections, Hermione couldn't help but think. The ability to forgive was another personality trait Hermione found incredibly important and it was one she knew Lily did not possess. Hermione had forgiven Ron countless times and never had he grovelled as much as she knew Snape had done...

Either way, Hermione knew she had to stop thinking about him- it would get her nowhere. She would just have to make do with the second best person she could find.

The next morning the Slytherins and the Gryffindors had potions first thing with Professor Snape. Playing the part of a couple perfectly, Draco and Hermione had met outside the great hall after breakfast and had walked arm in arm to the dungeons. When they'd arrived outside Snape's classroom door, Draco had pulled her in for a quick snog, as if the idea of spending a whole hour physically separated from Hermione caused him pain. They were both going at it quite enthusiastically, inspired by the fact that they had managed to trick every single one of their friends and house mates that they were indeed an item. The fact that Ron and Lavendar were also making out vigorously had nothing to do with Hermione and Draco's performance. Nothing whatsoever.

Most people standing outside the classroom were just staring at the two couples, mouths slightly hanging open. Harry Potter stood leaning against the wall, trying to look away from Hermione and Draco. He looked slightly green, and even though he knew the two were pretending, he couldn't help but think that the two looked overly affectionate and comfortable with each other, more so than would have been necessary...

It was as this thought trailed through Harry's mind that the heavy bronze classroom door slammed open, banging against the stone wall and creating a sound so loud that both couples immediately sprang apart. Hermione had instinctively drawn her wand and was pointing it straight at the bat of the dungeons, who, incidentally, had seen Draco and Hermione eagerly going at it before they had jumped apart. He was seething.

"What do you imbeciles think you are doing? I do not think I have ever been greeted with such a revolting sight in, my, life." Snape snarled in his deceptively smooth voice, effectively sending shivers down Hermione's spine as she swiftly tucked away her wand. Snape's eyes were focused on her and she thought she could see the deepest loathing within their dark depths. It made her feel sick to her stomach to think of how much he clearly hated her. "50 points each from Gryffindor and Slytherin, for that disgusting display."

With that Snape spun around and strode into the classroom, expecting the students to follow him. With his back safely to the lot of them, Snape closed his eyes for a moment, an expression of resignation and desperate despair crossing his features before his eyes reopened and his face settled back into his usual stony facade, a steely glint of determination in his eyes.

When Draco had entered the classroom he had been fully prepared to fulfil his end of the bargain by defending Hermione when Snape inevitably started insulting her. However, for once Snape held his tongue and didn't belittle her. In fact he said nothing to her the whole lesson. Instead he ignored her steadily. Not once did he allow her to answer a question, no matter how long her hand was in the air and regardless of the fact that no one else knew the answer. Not once did he make eye contact with her or even glance in her direction. When she handed in her potion at the end of the lesson he looked straight past her in order to take points from Lavender for scraping her stool against the floor too loudly.

Actually, Hermione wasn't sure she preferred his new treatment of her. Before she had felt embarrassed and angry, even hurt, but that was somehow preferable to feeling invisible, to feeling that she meant so little to him that he didn't even notice her. Of course the conscious part of her brain kept telling her that surely his ignoring her so thoroughly was actually an acknowledgement of her existence, but she couldn't get her heart to understand the idea. She left feeling more downtrodden than she had all term.

Instead, Snape's attentions had been focused elsewhere. On a certain Slytherin in fact, who had recently had his tongue down her throat. Snape had been breathing down Draco's neck while he had been brewing, glaring at him until he made a mistake and then tearing him to shreds for making it. Never had Draco been addressed with so much venom and anger by his Godfather, not even when he had almost accidentally killed all those people in sixth year on his quest to kill Dumbledore. "You insufferable, arrogant little prick!" Snape had snarled at him, not loudly enough for the whole class to hear, but certainly loudly enough for several of Draco's classmates to get the general gist of the conversation. Snape had gone on to take as many Slytherin house points as possible, something which had shocked the entire class into all producing half decent potions for once. With the exception of Draco, of course, whose cauldron Snape had vanished once the potion had almost finished, accusing him of cheating and threatening to give him a zero for the entire term.

Draco hung back as the rest of the class filed out. Everyone had been shocked by Snape's change of attitude, but no one had the rare ability to see the glaringly obvious causal link between Hermione and Draco's new relationship and Snape's sudden antagonism to his Godson. Everyone, that is, but Draco.

Draco's brain had been working in overdrive trying to find out why the hell his favourite teacher was being so cruel. He had grown closer to Snape since the war and had no idea what had changed. They had not had an argument recently and he had done nothing wrong. Nothing, that is, apart from snogging the Gryffindor princess...

And that is when Draco had first thought of it. Severus Snape was in love with Hermione Granger.

Impossible.

But then again...

Draco couldn't help but realise how perfect the two were for each other: they were both incredibly intelligent and hated idle chatter; neither were conventionally attractive but both curiously suited the other, when one really thought about it. He was thin, tall and dark while she was curvy and short but with an inner strength which seemed to be personified in her wild, obnoxious hair. She would brighten him, Draco was sure of it. They were both brave and had fought incredibly in the war. Most importantly, they were both fiercely loyal.

And it would explain Snape's curious behaviour this term. He had clearly been attempting to push Granger away by being cruel to her. And now he was being cruel to Draco because of his own jealousy.

"Severus, how long have you been in love with Hermione Granger?" Draco demanded as soon as the dungeon door had slammed shut after the last student had left.

There was a long pause as Draco's impertinent question sunk in. Suddenly Snape's eyes seemed to start spitting fire, the anger was so visible in them.

"How dare you be so presumptuous you insolent, disrespectful –"

"Oh, so you wouldn't mind if I fuck her tonight then?" Draco interrupted with his trademark smirk across his face, clearly not afraid of a man who could make a grown man cry with a single look.

As soon as the words had escaped Draco's lips, Snape had him pushed up against the wall, his hand curled around Draco's throat. "If you dare speak about her in that way one more time, I will castrate you" Snape whispered into Draco's ear slowly, punctuating each word, ensuring that the message sunk deep into Draco's mind.

They stared at each other menacingly for another heartbeat or two, before Snape's grip loosened from Draco's throat and he took a step back, leaving room for Draco to exit through the door.

"Was I clear?" Snape drawled, the threat still strong in his voice.

"Crystal" Draco replied as he sauntered out of the classroom, a smug smile on his face and a plan formulating in his mind.

**Merry Christmas everyone! (I celebrate on the 24th, so I'm pretty much right on time :D)**

**If you feel like giving me a present and making my Christmas extra special, I absolutely adore reviews ;)**

**Just one more to go! xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, I'm so sorry it's taken so long! Things suddenly went crazy, but now another term at my ridiculous uni is over and I've got some time to finish stories :) There will be one more chapter for this, and I'll post it very soon! **

**I know it was meant to be a Christmas story, but it's snowing in London so that's almost the same thing, right? :P**

Both Hermione and Draco laid awake that night thinking. Cogs were spinning around in their minds, clicking into place with a speed few others could have imitated. If Hermione was the brightest witch of her generation, then Draco was clearly the brightest wizard. Eventually they both fell into deep sleeps, their lips curling in a frighteningly identical way, expressions reminiscent of those worn by evil cupids...

Hermione Granger and Dean Thomas sat in a small hidden alcove watching the snow fall onto the grass of one of the smaller quads and seemed to be waiting for something. A robin sitting on the branch of a bare tree partially covering the alcove suddenly tweeted and the two Gryffindors promptly shared a significant look before launching into the middle of a conversation.

"I still find it difficult to believe," said Dean Thomas sounding completely incredulous, "that Harry, _Harry Potter_, is in love with Draco Malfoy. I mean it's obvious he feels that way, but _why?_"

A sudden gasp seemed to echo around the quad and had anyone been looking, they would have seen a suddenly deathly pale blonde seem to collapse against a wall, holding it for support.

"Ssshhh, someone might hear!" reprimanded Hermione, a smirk playing across her features belying the words. "But yes, Dean, I don't understand it either. I guess he just can't help how he feels. But look, you can't tell anyone, not ever. Especially not _him. _Harry wouldn't be able to bear it."

"Ok, ok, I've already promised," Dean replied, his face slightly pinched as if trying to hold in laughter. They had both heard the unmistakable sound of somebody dropping to their knees and shuffling forwards. "But why won't he just tell Malfoy? At least if he knew, then Harry might have a chance."

"Are you joking? Harry knows that Malfoy _hates_ him. If Malfoy found out, he would torture Harry about his feelings. We all know him capable of that. No, Harry would rather die than tell Malfoy the truth."

The faint shuffling sound was heard again. Hermione and Dean could well imagine the shock on Malfoy's face. Thankfully for their composures, they were unable to see him around the corner of the alcove, on his hands and knees, his pert bottom slightly in the air. Never had Draco Malfoy been in such a position. In his life.

"But surely anything is better than the way it is now," Dean continued. "Harry is making himself ill. He's so in love that he's stopped eating, he's stopped sleeping. I'm seriously worried about his health. I've never seen him this way before! And when he does sleep, he keeps the whole dorm awake with his moaning. Something has to change!"

"If only there was some way to make him fall in love with someone else," Hermione sighed. "Harry is such an amazing person- he's so kind and strong and powerful, and incredibly good looking... if only he were straight!"

"Or attracted to me! God I'd leave Martin in the time it took to blink, if I thought I had a chance with Harry. What a waste! He's so perfect and Malfoy is just so... Malfoy! I really don't know what Harry sees in him..." Dean seemed to raise his voice for a second. "Malfoy's such a prick! He's so arrogant and even downright cruel. For fuck's sake, he's never said anything even remotely nice to Harry! Ever. He is such a bastard."

"But Harry doesn't seem to think so, does he? He hasn't said a negative thing about Malfoy in ages. God, he even defends him! Even though it clearly hurts him to say his name... Dean, I'm actually afraid for him. I've never seen him so dejected and sad in his life! I'm worried... I'm worried he might do something stupid."

"No!" Dean cried out in exaggerated horror, covering the audible gasp which had forced itself out of the eavesdropper.

"Yes." Hermione said solemnly. "If only he were in love with someone else. Someone who would accept his love and reciprocate it wholeheartedly. Someone who wouldn't hide him away like a dirty secret, but would stand by his side publicly."

"Well, Malfoy would never do that now, would he?" Dean said, smirking slightly as he raised his voice again. "He'd never have the balls!"

Hermione found it difficult to hold in her snort. "Guess we'll never find out," she said. "Malfoy will never know, will he?"

"I guess not... by the way, Hermione, how long will you keep up the charade with Malfoy?" Dean said. "Surely it's hurting Harry... I still don't know why you two are pretending!"

"I don't know, Dean... let's talk about it some other time, we need to get to lunch" Hermione said and got up, gathering her books in her arms. She almost burst out laughing when she heard someone frantically scrambling away. "What was that?" she called, gratified to hear a terrified squeak before the sound of footsteps had disappeared completely.

For the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy was completely struck dumb. His mind was blank, his heart was thudding, he felt like he was going to be sick. Harry Potter was in love with him. The words didn't make sense to him. He tried to focus on their meaning, but they just became jumbled up in some kind of meaningless whirl of letters inside his mind. Draco thought he might faint, he couldn't breathe. He fell back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling without knowing how he had arrived there and without realising that that was where he was at all. Draco Malfoy had lost the ability for coherent thought, and it didn't seem likely that he would regain it for many hours to come.

Hermione was incredibly glad that she had kept her storage of complex potions which she had carried with her throughout the war. Hermione was especially thrilled that she had kept the polyjuice potion. However, it was the collection of hairs in Hermione's possession which thrilled her the most. She had collected the hairs of various people, on the light and on the dark side alike, throughout the years, always suspecting that they may come in handy in defeating Voldemort. Apparently she had forgotten to dispose of them after the dark lord's death.

Only half an hour had passed since Draco Malfoy had collapsed on his bed, when Harry Potter heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks. His hand hovered in the air, still clutching the book about advanced transfiguration he had been looking for. He daren't move, daren't breathe, lest the people on the other side of the bookshelves notice his presence.

"Draco's mooning over Potter again", he heard Blaise Zabini's voice drawl. "Won't leave his fucking bed. Doesn't want anyone to see he's been crying. Again."

"_Crying_?!" Pansy Parkinson's high pitched voice squeaked. "I didn't realise it was that bad!"

"The bloke's bloody obsessed! It's Potter this, Potter that, why won't Potter ever love me? It never ends! And then after listening to him whine for half a shitting hour, he always makes me swear never to tell anyone. He says that he would die if Potter found out."

Harry's arm was getting sore and he was starting to feel faint from the lack of oxygen his body was receiving. He hardly noticed though. Eventually he sucked in a breath before clapping his hand over his mouth, scared that the Slytherins had heard him. But apparently they remained oblivious.

"It's such a bloody waste, isn't it?" Zabini continued. "He's so hot and smart. He can even be _nice_ if he tries hard enough. Anyone would be lucky to have him. And instead he's crying over that Gryffindor arse and refuses to do anything about it!"

"He'll get over it eventually though, won't he?" Parkinson sounded concerned. "I mean, he can't stay in love with him forever, right?"

"Seriously, Pans, I don't know... He's making himself ill, he's obsessing so much! He's even neglecting his work, hasn't done his own homework in weeks, he's been paying us to do it. He normally takes so much pride in being best in everything, but now... Merlin, I'm scared he's going to... you know..."

"Know what?"

"You know... do something... stupid."

With that the two Slytherins walked off and Harry collapsed onto the floor, the transfiguration book completely forgotten. It didn't even register with him that he hadn't seen Malfoy talking to Zabini or Parkinson in weeks. Or that Zabini and Parkinson should actually be under the impression that Malfoy and Hermione were together. Actually, nothing registered with Harry. He just sat there staring at the book shelves, completely oblivious to everything around him.

Half way between the library and Gryffindor common room, Hermione Granger and Dean Thomas were clutching each other and laughing so hard, they would have been rolling around on the floor had they not been holding each other up. Barely.

That evening at dinner, a certain Slytherin and a certain Gryffindor sent each other shy glances every few seconds, blushing should their eyes meet, neither touching their food. No one noticed apart from Hermione, Dean and a pair of dark, intense eyes staring down from the high table. Had anyone been paying attention closely enough, they would have noticed a slight line of confusion marring Severus Snape's usually stoic face.

Harry couldn't take the tension anymore and abruptly stood, leaving the great hall even before desert had been served. He was so confused- how could what he had heard be real? Surely Malfoy couldn't reciprocate his feelings? But why would Parkinson and Zabini lie? And if he felt nothing, why had Malfoy been staring at him through dinner?

He was walking through the corridor leading to the Gryffindor common room when Harry realised he was being followed. He stopped and turned so quickly that his chaser was caught completely unaware. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy stood in the corridor staring at each other, neither moving and neither saying a word, afraid to break the silence.

The space between them closed suddenly in a wild rush. Neither knew who had moved first. Hands were in hair, lips, tongues and teeth were clashing, thrusting, consuming and their moans and groans intermingled and became one.

Harry was the first to break away, driven by the desperate need to breathe. He gasped in a deep breath before moaning "Draco" and diving back in, devouring the blonde with a passion that left Draco's heart pounding and his dick throbbing.

This time Draco tore himself away, only to whisper Harry's name before pushing him back against a wall, possibly against a protesting portrait, and reclaiming his lips. One of his hands was in Harry's wild, surprisingly soft hair, the other was grasping his hip, holding him tight against the wall. Harry reciprocated by sliding one of his hands out of the white-blonde hair and down Draco's back before grasping one of his arse cheeks and pulling their groins together, resulting in simultaneous groans of pleasure and desperation.

Two minutes later and they were thrusting against each other, almost manically, moaning and groaning, suckling and biting. Suddenly Draco pressed his face into Harry's hot neck, thrusting himself against the saviour one last time, as hard as he could, trying to mesh their bodies together, before his whole body stiffened and he came in his trousers, gasping out Harry's name and promptly tearing Harry into his own orgasm. Harry's vision went white and he came harder than he ever had before. His knees buckled and he could no longer support himself, sinking to the floor and pulling Draco with him.

The two sat there, arm in arm, silent except for their harsh breathing echoing through the, thankfully, empty corridor.


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, I can't believe I've finished it! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed it :) Please tell me what you thought!**

Harry was curled up in Draco's arms in his dorm in the Gryffindor tower. They had come up together after their encounter in the corridor and had hidden themselves away behind the curtains of Harry's bed after casting the appropriate silencing charms. Between kisses and caresses came confessions of affection and desire, as well as the revelation of Hermione and Dean's trickery.

"I can't believe you believed that I had been _crying_!" Draco said once again.

"Well I can't believe _you_ believed that I was so obsessed with you that I might hurt myself!" Harry replied.

Draco chuckled and buried his face into Harry's hair. "Well, I guess I have been pretty miserable lately... I can't believe Granger tricked us like that! Merlin, how they must have been laughing at the two of us all day!"

Harry suddenly looked worried. He sat up and looked Draco in the eye. "Draco... what's going to happen now? I know how afraid you were of people realising that you're gay... do you want to keep this a secret? Do you want to keep _us_ secret?"

"What do you want, Harry?"

"If it were up to me, we'd be holding hands walking through the castle tomorrow. I don't want to have to hide."

"Then we won't" Draco answered, surprising Harry. "I didn't want anyone to find out about me being gay because I was in love with _you_ and I didn't want to see the disgust in your face if you found out. I know that coming out with you will make my house turn against me, will make my family turn against me. But fuck them all! All I've wanted for months now was to be with you, and now that that is possible, I'm not letting you out of my grasp!"

Harry was grinning by the time he was finished. "I love you" he choked out, before throwing himself at Draco's lips which responded with equal eagerness to Harry's passionate assault.

"Merlin, Harry, I love you too," Draco groaned when Harry finally decided to breathe. Just before Harry was about to dive back down to his lips, Draco stopped him. "Wait, one sec! Let's not go public immediately. I want to, as soon as possible, I do, but I've got a plan..."

Harry was confused. "What kind of plan? What for?"

"Well, you know how Hermione is in love with Severus..."

"WHAT?!"

Hermione was confused. Really confused. She had been so sure that her plan had worked, so sure that Draco and Harry were finally going to get together. But they were acting like nothing had happened. In fact, Draco had approached her that morning and had continued acting like he was her boyfriend. When she had asked him what he was doing, he'd only said "We have a deal, remember? My love?" And then he'd proceeded to snog her in front of the entire school.

When he'd finally let her come up for some much-needed air, the first thing she saw was a flash of anger in Severus Snape's black eyes as he strode passed them, his cloak brushing Hermione's hand before he swept out of the hall.

As soon as Snape was gone, Draco released Hermione, smirked, and made his way over to the Slytherin table. Hermione was left standing shocked and confused, still clutching the hand that had touched the cloak of the dark potions master to her chest.

The rest of the day was much like the morning: Hermione would periodically find herself in Draco's arms being kissed within an inch of her life for no apparent reason whatsoever. What Hermione didn't realise, however, was that Severus Snape had been there to witness each time Draco had mauled her and that each time, Snape's expression had been darker and angrier and his fists had been clenched harder and tighter than the time before.

By last period potions, Hermione's lips felt raw and she was incredibly confused. She had tried to ask Draco what the hell he thought he was doing, but every time he'd grabbed her to give her a snog, he'd disappeared immediately after without giving her time to open her mouth. She had tried speaking to Harry too, who she thought seemed strangely happy and at ease, despite the fact that the man he was supposedly in love with kept attacking his best friend. But whenever she'd approached him, he'd made an excuse and had left, without answering any of her queries.

Hermione was sure that something was going on, but she just couldn't think what it might be... it had something to do with Draco. Obviously. But Harry was acting strangely too...

But before Hermione could begin formulating any ideas in her mind, she was grabbed again by Malfoy who pushed her against the wall opposite the door of the potions classroom and started kissing her vigorously, just as the door was slammed open and Professor Snape appeared.

Harry saw Snape go deathly pale, even more so than usual, when he saw Draco and Hermione against the wall, before he turned red with anger and... something else. Harry thought it might be pain, but perhaps he was just imagining things after Draco had suggested certain... things that morning.

"What do you think you're doing?" Snape hissed before grabbing the back of Draco's cloak and violently pulling him away from Hermione. His chest was heaving with anger as he glared at the two of them. "I. Warned. You." He snarled, his eyes sparking fury. Hermione noticed that he avoided looking at her, choosing instead to glare at Draco or the space just above Hermione's shoulder. "Again. 50 points from Gryffindor and Slytherin. I'll decide your further punishments later." With one final sneer, Snape whirled around and strode into the classroom. Once again his eyes closed once his back was turned to his students, as if trying to block out some emotion.

Hermione was the last to enter the classroom. Snape's reaction had made her feel... she didn't know what exactly, but her heart was thundering, and it definitely wasn't from Draco's passionless kiss. Her stomach had squirmed at the pure passion Snape had been exuding in his anger. She had rarely seen him so... alive... even if it was in anger and disgust at her. His proximity when he'd been towering over them had affected her too. He'd been so close, she'd been able to smell his musky, spicy scent, reminiscent of potions ingredients and something else, something she'd never smelt before. As she took a seat at her desk and glanced up at her foreboding potions master, Hermione felt a twinge of lust in her groin. It was going to be a long lesson...

An hour and a completed potion later, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She had been expecting Snape to be as cruel and insulting as ever, she had been expecting having to keep her mouth shut instead of fighting back and defending herself. However, she had not been expecting his stony silence for an entire solid hour. He had barely said a word. Instead he had ordered everyone to brew the lesson's potion and had stayed behind his desk doing paperwork the whole time, ignoring everyone. Usually he would prowl around, correcting and snapping at everyone when they made mistakes. This time, however, he had not interfered at all, resulting in a set of potions so dismal, Hermione wondered how any of them would pass their NEWTs at the end of the year. Even then, he had not said anything. He had merely accepted the potions with a frosty glare at each individual when they handed in, except for Hermione, for whom he'd not even looked up when it was her time to approach his desk. Then he'd given them an essay to complete for the next lesson and had ordered them all to leave. And everyone left. Everyone, that is, except for Draco.

Draco had quickly gone up to the Gryffindor table, had quickly touched Hermione's waist and whispered to her to wait for him outside the classroom. And then he'd stayed behind waiting for everyone to leave.

Yet again Hermione was confused. But she'd done as she'd been told and stood outside the classroom after everyone had left. Her curiosity, however, had gotten the better of her and she'd stood close to the door, listening to the conversation on the other side. And she'd been struck dumb.

When Draco was the only student left in the classroom, he walked up to Snape's desk, against which he was leaning, and looked him in the eye, and said "Severus, admit it. You're in love with Hermione Granger."

Snape finally lost it. He'd been reigning in his emotions all day. He'd had to watch his Godson mauling his woman so many times that day, he'd lost count. And now that very Godson had the nerve to confront him. He saw red.

"Get out of my classroom, you insufferable little PRICK! How DARE you speak to me in such a manner." He was breathing heavily, his nostrils flaring. "What do you want me to say? That I _love_ her? That I _want_ her? That she's _mine_?! Because, there you have it, it's true. It's all, fucking, TRUE! And you've known it the whole time, haven't you, you bastard?! And you've touched her, kissed her, mauled her in front of me every single time you had the opportunity. Do you even like her? Or are you just doing it to spite me? I always knew you were a bastard, but I would never have expected this." Snape was seething. He was towering over Draco and the smirk the younger man wore on his face only drove him into a wilder fury. "Now, FUCK OFF and never speak to me again. We're over. And one more thing, Malfoy," he snarled, "if I found out you've hurt her, I will castrate you. Have I made myself clear?"

Snape leant back against his desk and was ready to return to his quarters and drink himself into blissful oblivion. He didn't look up when he heard the door slam, assuming it was Draco leaving. But then he heard the footsteps approaching his desk and he looked up and saw something which made him stop in his tracks.

Hermione Granger was striding towards him, her hair flying and her eyes spitting fire, a determined expression on her face. Severus didn't have a chance to process this image before she reached him, grabbed him with both arms and fastened her lips to his.

Hermione clung to him, still unable to accept what she'd heard, and yet so desperately hopeful that she felt her heart would break if he were to push her away. She clutched his cloak, pulling him tighter towards her, pushing her body against his. Her lips moved against his, trying to express all of her pent up longing and desire. He still stood there unmoving, unresponding, like a marble statue.

When Hermione felt like she was about to faint from lack of oxygen, she was forced to take her lips from his. But she didn't give him any time to pull away, instead she breathed his name, "Severus", uttering it aloud for the first time, before fastening her lips to his again.

And this time, miraculously, he responded. Suddenly Hermione found herself surrounded by his arms, which had moved to grasp her around her back, pulling her tightly into his body. Where his lips had once been cold and unmoving, they were now moving ardently against hers and then his mouth opened and his tongue swept over her lips which opened without further pushing. And then his tongue was inside her mouth and everything changed. Heat exploded everywhere, travelling down Hermione's body and settling in a tight, hot furl in her stomach. His tongue traced her teeth, as if trying to memorise each indentation, as if trying to leave his trace on every possible surface he could find. And then her tongue jumped up to meet his and his tongue stroked against hers and she moaned loudly, hands moving up to grasp his hair, pulling his head even further into her, tightening around fistfuls of hair that should have been painful, but instead left Severus with such a feeling of being desired, of being_ needed,_ that he groaned into her mouth and let one hand drop to her bottom, pulling her into his erection.

As soon as Hermione felt the hard length pressing into her stomach, it felt like the world had stopped. She pressed herself into it and tore her lips from his mouth, staring into his eyes before sliding her lips onto his neck, onto his _scar_ and sucking forcefully.

Severus had never felt anything like it. It felt like stars had exploded behind his eyes. He grew even harder, even though he would not have thought it possible moments earlier. He groaned her name, "Hermione", in a tone filled with so much passion it sent shivers down her back.

Suddenly Hermione found herself spun around, her back pressed against the desk and Severus pressed along her front. His mouth was back on hers, demanding and forceful, his hot breath mingling with hers whenever they broke away to pant in some much needed oxygen. Their hands had wandered into each other's clothes, Severus holding Hermione's waist beneath her robes and Hermione's hands were grasping his back over his shirt. But soon that wasn't enough and they were ripping at each other's robes, trying to get them off, before moving onto jumpers and shirts and skirts and trousers, kissing and grasping all the way, feeling skin for the first time and realising that nothing would ever be enough.

Without quite realising how she had gotten there, Hermione was lying on the floor completely naked, her body covered by Severus' equally naked body. Their hands were everywhere, their tongues were intertwined and their hearts were thudding against each other, as if trying to break out of their shells in order to jump into the other's chest.

And then Hermione felt something hard and hot pressing against her entrance, and she was so wet and she needed it so much, she felt a terrible emptiness desperate to be filled. Their eyes locked and Hermione's hands went to Severus' arse and she pulled and then he was in.

There was a pause. There were no words, none would have sufficed. Only flesh against flesh, flesh in flesh, and Hermione was drowning in his eyes, blacker than any night's sky, pulling her in and she feared, no, she hoped, that she would never escape from their grasp.

And then he was moving, slow and hard and it was perfect, and she was lifting her hips to meet his, moaning uncontrollably, her moans mixing with his groans and he started moving faster and harder and she was encouraging him, crying out, crying his name, hands clutching his back and his hair and everywhere, and her mouth was open, breathing hard against his. There was an indescribable feeling in her heart and the tight coil in her abdomen was just coiling tighter and tighter, her toes were starting to curl and he was going faster and faster, somehow hitting her clit every time he thrust, and then everything went black and it felt like her head was exploding on the inside and she cried out his name in complete ecstasy, her hands needing to grasp something, gripping the flesh on his back and she was shuddering and she felt like her heart had burst and all the while he had been thrusting and groaning and kissing and now he was stiffening, crying out her name, shuddering and he felt like it would never end, could never end, and then they were lying there, he was on top of her, his face buried in her neck and she was crying

"-Hermione, Merlin, Hermione are you OK? Did I hurt you? Why are you crying? Oh Gods, I'm so sorry-"

Tears continued to stream down her face and Hermione laughed into his neck and continued to sob the whole time- "Oh God, Severus, I love you, I love you, I've never felt this indescribably happy, never-" and he was kissing her again, one hand in the hair he had insulted so often, one hand stroking her side.

Eventually he lifted his face from hers, and brought one hand up to wipe away the tears from her face, and his face had split into a smile to match Hermione's and she had never seen anything like it. It transformed his face and wiped away any signs of age, of stress, and he had never looked so handsome and she had never been so in love.

"Promise me" said Hermione after she had regained enough breath to speak, "promise me that you will never push me away again. Please. I couldn't bear it. I need you, I will always need you, please promise me" and she kissed him again because she couldn't bear their lips being parted for too long a time.

"Oh Gods, Hermione" he replied eventually, "I promise, I do. I've loved you so much, all this time, and I thought you would never feel the same and the pain was too much to bear, so I tried to make you hate me. It would be easier than accepting your friendship, accepting the sacrifice you made for me, and knowing that you would never truly want me, would never truly love me. I'm yours, from now on, I swear it. I will never push you away again. I couldn't, if I tried" and then she kissed him, tears streaming again, but she couldn't hold them back, she'd never been so happy. "Just tell me, Hermione, tell me you're mine. That you won't tire of me, that you won't ever leave me."

Hermione could see the fear and insecurity in his eyes and she knew they had no reason to be there. "Severus, I'm yours, entirely and forever. What I feel for you, I will never be able to feel for anyone else. I never want to be parted from you, from this day onwards." And with that, their conversation was over and they lost themselves in each other again.

That evening at dinner, the hall was in an uproar. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy had decided to sit together. At the Hufflepuff table. They sat opposite each other and ignored everyone else, eating their food calmly and speaking to each other in tones too low for others to overhear. They were also the only ones in the hall to notice that both Hermione Granger and Severus Snape were missing. When they had made that particular discovery, they had shared a secret grin that spoke of victory and satisfaction.

After dinner, they made their way to Harry's chambers and spent the night in each other's arms, Harry's head on Draco's chest and their legs intertwined. Both slept better than they ever had before.

In another room, deep down in the dungeons of the castle, Hermione and Severus lay in a similar position. She was tucked into his side, surrounded by his arm, one of her arms and one of her legs holding onto his body. She knew that she would never let go.


End file.
